Prosafe NOW 1/2009

No 1 • 2009
On a steady
course
– also in
challenging
times
VISION
Prosafe shall be a leading and
innovative provider of technology
and services in selected niches of
the global oil and gas industry.
MISSION
By providing our clients with innovative
and cost-efficient solutions, Prosafe shall
maximise shareholder value and create a
challenging and motivating workplace.
CORE VALUES
Profitability
Respect
InnOvation
Safety
Ambition
Focus
Environment
Prosafe NOW is published two
times a year for our employees, clients,
vendors and other key audiences.
Submit ideas, comments and
articles for the next issue to:
Karine Cosemans
Communication and branding manager
[email protected]
EDITOR
Karine Cosemans
Photo page 1, 2, 4, 6: Kjetil Alsvik
Photo page 8, 9: Consolidated
Training Systems
Photo page 12, 13: Katja Snozzi, SOS
Children’s Villages
PRODUCTION
Printers AS
VISIT OUR WEB SITE
www.prosafe.com
RESPONSIBLE PUBLISHER
Prosafe SE
Stadiou Street 126
CY-6020 Larnaca, Cyprus
Phone: +357 2462 2450
Fax +357 2462 2480
[email protected]
On the cover:
The newly refurbished MSV Regalia.
The first half of 2009 has been busy, with three
yard stays in addition to normal rig operations.
This has resulted in a lower rig utilisation, which
is reflected in our financial results for that period.
Apart from that, we have once again delivered
good financial and operational results.
We are in a fortunate financial
position, with a solid funding
situation and healthy profit
margins. Over the years, we have
shown that we deliver robust
results, not only when times are
good, but also when times are
difficult.
Prosafe is a company that takes a
long-term approach when making
decisions and planning for the
future. One of our foremost goals
is to retain and further enhance
our position as a leading provider
of accommodation services.
In order to succeed with this,
we have prepared long-term
maintenance and upgrade plans
to ensure that our rigs are well
maintained and meet the highest
standards at all times. By investing
in our assets and endeavouring to
deliver quality operations, we will
continue to ensure that our
2
customers are offered safe and
efficient first class accommodation
services.
Investing in our assets
As part of these plans, Safe
Caledonia was four weeks in the
yard at Ølensvåg, Norway for an
intermediate hull inspection, the
exchange of some thrusters and
upgrades to the gangway. Safe
Scandinavia completed a Special
Periodic Survey, adjusted the
height of the gangway prior to
commencing a new contract and
did some maintenance work
during a five-week yard stay at
Invergordon, Scotland.
In addition, we conducted a major
refurbishment of MSV Regalia.
This was a comprehensive and
demanding project that went on
during the first half of 2009. The
scope of work comprised amongst
others life extension of the steel
structure, renewal of accommodation and living quarters and
replacement of engines and
thrusters. The rig also completed a
five-yearly Special Periodic Survey
and was granted an Acknowledgement of Compliance for operating
in the Norwegian North Sea. The
main challenge was to conclude the
project within a tight time frame
and to get the rig on contract
within the agreed date.
The vessel was gangway connected
and assumed operations for BP at
the Valhall field on 12 July 2009.
The “new” MSV Regalia is now a
state-of-the-art unit, offering
accommodation in 300 single-man
cabins and capable of operating in
the most demanding regions in the
world.
Completing these projects within
the given deadlines would not have
been possible without the efforts of
our dedicated employees, who have
worked determinedly in order to
successfully carry through these
projects. Thank you for your hard
work and for your contribution to
the attainment of Prosafe’s
objectives.
Good order intake
We have so far this year secured
a number of important new
contracts. Safe Bristolia and Safe
Concordia were awarded one-year
and eight-month bareboat charters
in the Gulf of Mexico. Safe
Scandinavia was awarded a contract
with two firm durations of six
months in the Norwegian North
Sea, and Safe Astoria won an eightmonth contract in the Philippines.
The geographical spread of these
contracts confirms the worldwide
demand for semi-submersible
accommodation services. With our
versatile fleet of anchored and
dynamically positioned rigs, we are
able to operate in all geographical
areas and nearly all water depths,
which gives us a competitive edge.
Taking social responsibility
We endeavour to contribute to the
positive development of the local
communities in which we are
represented, and give each year a
donation to a social program in a
country where we have business
activities.
New
Director of
Engineering
We will later this year start operations offshore the Philippines, and
feel that it is natural to contribute
to alleviating the situation for some
of those who are in need in that
country. Therefore, we have given a
donation to SOS Children’s Villages
that will finance the building of a
family house in the new SOS
Children’s Village in the town
Mariveles in Bataan, nearby Manila.
Giving children a home and
education will contribute to a
better future, both for the children
and the country in which they live.
Positive outlook
The prospects for our business are
good. Within the harsh and semiharsh offshore environments where
most of our rigs operate, there is a
good supply-demand balance and
the number of new builds to be
delivered over the next few years is
limited. Furthermore, we expect a
good long-term demand for our
rigs, especially in Mexico and the
North Sea, with additional growth
potential in other deepwater
regions.
We have secured a good contract
portfolio and thereby also
predictable earnings for 2010.
We will continue to deliver safe
and efficient operations, be costconscious, and develop the
company in a sustainable and
profitable way. We will never stop
looking for ways to further improve
our performance.
Arne Austreid
President and CEO
3
Kolbjørn Akselvoll (born 1956)
was appointed Director of
Engineering of Prosafe Offshore
in May 2009. He is based in the
Aberdeen office.
Prior to joining Prosafe, he was
Vice President Projects with
China Oilfield Services/Awilco.
Mr. Akselvoll has had various
positions with drilling contractors
and engineering companies and
has been working in the offshore
industry for 27 years.
He is a Chartered Engineer and
Member of the Royal Institution
of Naval Architects.
MSV Regalia - Offering
first class accommodation
in the North Sea
The recently completed refurbishment of MSV Regalia ensures that the rig
complies with stringent Norwegian North Sea requirements. How extensive was
the scope of work and how does that benefit the end user, our customers?
I interviewed Tom Milne, Director of Operations and Kolbjørn Akselvoll,
Director of Engineering, and this is what they had to say.
By Karine Cosemans,
Communication and branding
manager
Since its inception in 1997, Prosafe
has been operating in the North
Sea, one of the longest established
markets for semi-submersible
accommodation rigs. The North Sea
is amongst the harshest
environments in the world and only
a few accommodation rigs are
suitable for operation in this area.
As a leading player in the North
Sea, Prosafe is committed to
making the necessary investments
in order to ensure that its rigs are
compliant to all relevant standards.
We endeavour to offer our
customers the highest standards of
accommodation services available,
and put the safety of the people
living and working onboard our
vessels at the forefront of our
business.
As part of this strategy, Prosafe
conducted a major refurbishment
of MSV Regalia, a semi-submersible
accommodation rig of enhanced
GVA 3000 design. The work took
place at the Keppel Verolme yard
in the Netherlands during the first
half of 2009.
What was the scope of work for
the refurbishment project?
–The concept was quite simple.
We were tasked with a requirement
to extend the structural life of the
vessel and upgrade all the accommodation, giving a POB in excess of
300 which had to comply with the
NORSOK standards. Included in
this we renewed all the galley and
laundry spaces, recreation areas,
offices and other internal working
and living areas. To work in the
Norwegian Continental Shelf, there
is a requirement to attain an
Acknowledgement of Compliance
from the Norwegian Petroleum
Authority Safety. Therefore, we
put a lot of focus on improving the
working environment onboard, says
Tom Milne, Director of Operations.
The “new” MSV Regalia.
4
–On the technical side, we replaced
all six main engines with new
Wärtsilä WN25 16v LN engines
complying with the latest NOx
emission protocols. We took the
opportunity to completely overhaul
and refurbish the ABB generators
attached to the engines. Further,
we overhauled and serviced all six
Rolls Royce thruster units and
upgraded the Kongsberg DP system
to the latest version, with upgrades
also to the power management and
control systems. We have ended up
with a very modern and effective
power train, reports Tom Milne.
–The rig was also dry-docked,
where the pontoons, columns,
bracings, including under deck
areas, box girder and deck were all
blasted and painted, adds Kolbjørn
Akselvoll, Director of Engineering.
–In addition, the rig underwent a
full five-yearly special periodical
survey by Lloyds with the renewal
of all main class and flag certificates.
Tom Milne, Director of Operations (left) and Kolbjørn Akselvoll, Director of Engineering relate
about the refurbishment project.
in nice surroundings and can enjoy
a good night’s sleep in comfortable
cabins. They will wake up fit and
refreshed, and be able to do an
even better job on the installation
that our rig supports.
The rig was granted an
Acknowledgement of Compliance
(AoC). What does that mean?
–An AoC is a certificate issued by
Norway’s Petroleum Safety
Authority, confirming that the
technical condition of the rig and
Prosafe’s organisation and management systems are considered to be
in compliance with relevant
requirements in Norwegian shelf
legislation, relates Tom Milne.
–Obtaining an AoC is not a given –
a lot of hard work went into it.
We must also keep in mind that
an AoC is a living document that
remains valid provided it is maintained. In other words, it is a life
time commitment.
–There are also considerable benefits for our crew, points Kolbjørn
Akselvoll out. –They will be living in
upgraded accommodation quarters
and will be working in new offices
and a largely improved working
environment with less noise, more
light and better adapted to their
day-to-day tasks. Furthermore, we
must also mention that the upgrade
of the power generation system has
resulted in improved availability
and reliability of the power generation system, which of course means
that the rig is even more reliable
than before.
What does the refurbishment mean
for our clients?
–The standard of the living quarters
has been raised substantially, says
Tom Milne. –The accommodation is
now state of the art with 300 single
occupancy cabins, all with en suite
facilities. The recreational facilities
have also been upgraded. Our guests
can relax and spend their free time
Has the refurbishment resulted in a
more environmentally friendly rig?
–Yes, definitely, says Kolbjørn
Akselvoll. –The replacement engines
are fully compliant with the latest
emission requirements. We estimate
that this will result in a reduction in
NOx emissions by some 40 per cent.
Moreover, we expect a reduction in
the emission of CO2, CO, SO2, CH4
5
and VOC. There will also be a slight
reduction in fuel consumption and
a greater reduction in Lubrication
oil consumption.
Were there any particular
challenges during the project?
–There were some, but not too
many technical challenges. The
main challenge was to complete
the project within a tight time
frame, and to get the rig on
contract within the agreed date.
We are proud to have met this
target, tells Kolbjørn Akselvoll.
What is the experience now that
the rig has been operating for a
while?
–We have received positive feedback from BP Norge, the operator
of the Valhall field where the rig is
operating, relates Tom Milne. They
are very satisfied with the rig and
the services it offers. The crew has
also reported that they are very
pleased with the rig’s standard.
–On the technical side, we have
received reports that the new
engines and thrusters have been
working flawlessly, says Tom
Milne. –Gavin Fraser, MSV Regalia’s
Chief Engineer has told me that he
Completely renewed mess room, galley, and living quarters with 300 single man cabins.
is very impressed with the new
power package. Power distribution
and control are vastly improved,
and the engines respond quickly
without much time lag.
Is there anything that you are
particularly proud of?
–First of all, we are very proud of
having concluded the project with
good result, says Kolbjørn Akselvoll.
–The refurbishment was successfully
completed, and we can now offer
our customers first class services on
a high quality rig that meets even
the most stringent safety and
working environment requirements.
–I would like to add that the crew
did a good job, and that I
appreciate their attitude and
cooperation during sometimes
difficult conditions and times, says
Tom Milne. –Especially towards the
end, they worked very hard to meet
the deadlines.
Kolbjørn, you joined Prosafe earlier
this year. How did you experience
becoming involved during the
project’s last couple of hectic
weeks?
–It was very challenging to get up
to speed, relates Kolbjørn Akselvoll.
–However, there were no surprises
and it was as I expected it to be
at the end of a project. Everybody
was working determinedly and
putting in very long hours in
order to complete the rig on time.
Are there any lessons learned?
–Of course there are always things
that we would like to change or
would do differently given a
second chance, tells Kolbjørn
Akselvoll.
–There are lessons to be learnt
from any project and this one is
no exception. We will be holding
a lessons learned seminar in the
beginning of September, where
the project team, crew and
management will all get together
in order to ensure transfer of
experience. We will ensure that
we draw wisdom from this project,
and this will impact on how we
handle future projects.
MSV Regalia was gangwayconnected to the Valhall platform
in the Norwegian North Sea on 12
July. The rig is providing first class
accommodation and recreation
facilities to BP, who are working
with modifications to prepare for
the installation of a new process
and living quarters facility. MSV
Regalia is on contract until
January 2011, with the possibility
to extend the contract with a
further six months, and is
operating in DP mode for the
duration of the contract.
Connecting MSV Regalia’s gangway to the Valhall platform.
6
Prosafe – a focused offshore
accommodation company
Prosafe has truly grown globally in terms of how diversified our crewing
workforce is across the fleet. With crew members from many different countries,
we are well placed to benefit from a diversity of experiences and cultures.
Systematic consolidation
From the merger between Procon
Offshore and Safe Offshore in 1997,
Prosafe entered the offshore
accommodation market with three
vessels, the Safe Britannia, the Safe
Caledonia and the Safe Lancia.
Discoverer ASA was acquired in 1998,
increasing the fleet by two vessels,
the Jasminia and the Safe Regency.
During the years 1999-2002, another
three vessels were added to the
fleet, the Safe Scandinavia, the MSV
Regalia and the Safe Hibernia. The
last four, the Safe Concordia, the
Safe Bristolia, the Safe Astoria and
the Safe Esbjerg were acquired from
Consafe Offshore in 2006, adding
up to a total of twelve vessels
(11 semi-submersibles and 1 jack-up).
By Frode Ravndal, Financial analyst
Since the inception in 1997, the
Prosafe group has been a provider
of both drilling services through
the Prosafe Drilling Services division,
and floating production solutions
through the Prosafe Production
division. The Prosafe Drilling Services
division was sold to KCA Deutag in
2005, and the Prosafe Production
division was spun off as a separate
company and listed on the Oslo
Stock Exchange in 2008. Today, only
one division remains, the Prosafe
Offshore Support Services, consisting
of a versatile offshore accommodation/service rig fleet owned and
operated by Prosafe.
Over the years, focusing on the development of stable and long-term
relationships, Prosafe has created a
significant client base and a solid
track record. With national oil companies and oil majors representing
the majority of the client portfolio,
Prosafe’s services have been in
demand in most offshore oil regions
around the world. During the years
1997-2002, the majority of work was
related to the maintenance and
repairs of fixed offshore installations
in mature oil regions including the
North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
In the North Sea, clients like
ConocoPhillips, Statoil, British Gas
(BG), British Petroleum (BP), Shell
and ChevronTexaco represented,
7
and still represent, Prosafe’s client
base in the Norwegian and British
sectors of the North Sea. In the Gulf
of Mexico, Pemex has since 1998
chartered several Prosafe rigs in what
has become a long-term relationship
with Prosafe, through Cotemar,
Prosafe’s partner in Mexico.
Global operations
From 2003 onwards, Prosafe has
expanded globally and provided offshore accommodation and services,
connecting to several types of
offshore installations in South East
Asia, West Africa, the Mediterranean, the USA and Russia. In 2003,
the Safe Caledonia connected to the
fixed installation at the ConocoPhillips operated Bayu-Undan gas
field offshore East Timor. The same
vessel mobilised to the Shell
operated Bonga FPSO offshore
Nigeria in 2004, to assist during
hook-up and commissioning. The
year 2005 marked the start of
another long-term relationship with
Maersk when the Safe Esbjerg
connected to the Gorm field in the
Danish sector of the North Sea. In
2006, the MSV Regalia connected to
the Total operated Girassol FPSO
offshore Angola, to assist during a
tie-in operation. In the US Gulf of
Mexico, the Safe Scandinavia connected to the Shell operated Mars TLP
in 2006, and the Safe Concordia,
chartered by ChevronTexaco, assisted
during a hook-up at the Tahiti SPAR
in 2008. Prosafe has also operated
rigs at the Sakhalin field offshore
Russia, and was recently granted a
contract for work at the Shell operated Malampaya field offshore the
Philippines in the South China Sea.
Efficient corporate structure
Since the 1997 merger, the Prosafe
organisation has been through
several structural changes. The
parent company established in
1997, Prosafe ASA, became a
European company in 2007, and
changed its name to Prosafe SE.
Later that year, Prosafe SE
transferred its registered office
from Stavanger, Norway, to
Larnaca, Cyprus. The Offshore
Support Services division has been
through similar changes. From a
business division counting three
vessels and close to 100 employees,
headquartered in Scotland, to a
twelve vessel fleet and close to 400
employees, headquartered in Singapore, Prosafe has moved a long way
to ensure that its services represent a
cost-efficient solution for its clients,
and a risk-adjusted competitive
return for its shareholders.
Today, Prosafe is the world’s
leading owner and operator of
semi-submersible accommodation/
service rigs with a stable client base
and an international footprint.
Backed by an organisation with a
solid track record focusing on the
offshore accommodation market,
Prosafe is ready to deliver on
contracts, take advantage of arising
business opportunities, and face the
challenges to remain the number
one provider of offshore accommodation solutions.
Prosafe's crewing recipe
Prosafe has truly grown globally in terms of how diversified our crewing
workforce is across the fleet. With crew members from many different countries,
we are well placed to benefit from a diversity of experiences and cultures.
ensuring that all our vessel crews
are trained to consistent levels of
competency and standards which
are recognised in both the
international maritime and the
offshore oil and gas industries,
wherever we operate our vessels.
By Charles Stewart, Director of
Human Resources
The ability to recruit and train
crews from across the world
provides us with flexibility,
resources and a breadth of
professional knowledge. At the last
count, we had 17 nationalities on
board our vessels. This brings us
some interesting challenges in
The key to making the diversity of
our crew a success is to mould and
mix them to a standard consistency
through our commitment and
adherence to internationally
recognised and industry specific
standards. This is core to all of our
crewing competencies, whether it
be STCW95 for our deck and
engineering marine personnel,
OPITO for all our offshore personnel, or for specialist qualifications
through various organisations
and bodies such as IMCA, The
civil Aviation Authority, Flag State,
and various maritime authorities
including MCA in the UK, NMD in
Norway and the MPA in Singapore.
8
Ensuring consistent performance
As our experience of working
internationally has grown, so too
has the diversity of our crewing
pool. However, through building
strong partnerships with training
organisations in the UK, Norway,
Singapore, Malaysia and the
Philippines, and in conjunction with
trusted and reliable crewing agency
partners, we have built a team of
vessel crews who are able to
consistently deliver a safe and high
quality performance. Regardless
of whether we are operating in
the tropical climes of the Gulf of
Mexico, the icy waters off Sakhalin
in Far East Russia, or the wind and
swells of the North Sea, our
customers can rely on being offered
the same high level of services.
Our latest challenge has been
preparing the crew of Safe Astoria
for her forthcoming contract for
Shell Exploration in the Philippines
at their Malampaya platform.
Safe Astoria has been crewed by
the widest range of nationalities
across the fleet, but by far the
largest contingent is our Filipino
colleagues who are provided
through our partners from NetShip
Management who are based in
Makati in Manila.
NetShip has worked closely with
Prosafe over the past three years
to recruit and train crews for both
Safe Bristolia and Safe Astoria.
These crew members have
undertaken the full range of
training and competencies required
and we have successfully utilised
OPITO and STCW accredited
training partners from the UK,
Malaysia and the Philippines to
achieve the right mix of knowledge,
skills and experience.
Local training providers
Key to this success has been the fact
that several high quality training
providers from the marine and the
offshore oil and gas industries have
expanded their services geographically. This has enabled us to ensure
that as we have developed our
expanding crewing pool, we have
also developed their knowledge
and skills in a consistent manner.
Thereby, we ensure that we safely
operate to the same high standards,
both in the familiarity of the North
Sea and in any of the established or
developing oil provinces anywhere
else in the world.
Recent crew training undertaken
in the Philippines, Malaysia and
Singapore has covered areas of
expertise including helicopter
operations, emergency response
roles for fire-fighting and lifeboats, and rigging and lifting.
Working with local training providers who are accredited by bodies
such as OPITO, IMCA and STCW
has given us confidence that our
diverse workforce benefits from
the same levels of expertise and
standards which we have come to
expect from our experiences from
working in the North Sea.
Safety and emergency preparedness training at Consolidated Training Systems’ training
centre in the Philippines.
The Prosafe way
In addition to the high levels of
technical skills and knowledge
which we expect all our crews to
perform and deliver, Prosafe also
requires our workforce to undertake all their tasks and responsibilities in line with the principles contained within our set of core values
which are profitability, respect,
innovation, safety, ambition, focus
and the environment, and for them
to observe and work to the highest
9
standards as stated in our Code of
Conduct – this is the Prosafe way.
We strongly believe that these
shared core values and Code of
Conduct are important ingredients
in the recipe for making a safe
and successful business. Based on
the combined capabilities and
contributions of our employees,
Prosafe is in a good position for
further sustainable growth and
development.
Safe Caledonia yard stay
The beginning of February 2009 found Safe Caledonia moored at Westcon
Contractors yard in Ølensvåg, Norway following completion of the first phase
of the Elgin/Dunbar contract for Total E&P.
By Dave Smith, Ølensvåg Yard Stay
Project Manager
The yard stay was primarily arranged to carry out an intermediate hull
inspection survey for DNV, the
exchange of port and starboard
forward thrusters and the removal
and maintenance upgrades to the
extending gangway. These main
tasks basically set the time line for
the yard period, which commenced
on the 4th February with a planned
departure for sea trials on the 8th
March.
The planning and preparation for
the yard stay began in the middle
of 2008, during a very busy year for
Prosafe, in which five of the vessels
in our fleet attended yard stays for
various maintenance upgrades and
periodic surveys.
The development of the work lists
involved the joint efforts of both
on and offshore personnel and
resulted in an extensive program
of refurbishment and upgrade of
various areas and systems during
the yard stay.
External refurbishment included the
blasting and painting of the port
and forward lower deck hull
sections, the gangway rest tower
and the 400 level roof and walkways. Internally, the improvements
were extensive, with OP Marine
carrying out the refurbishment of
the client and crew offices, renewal
of flooring throughout the accommodation stairs and companion
ways, messroom, laundry and galley
store rooms. Part of the accommodation improvements included a
major upgrade of the black water
service system by replacement of
the tanks and pipe work. The black
water service system is the system
of pipe work, tanks and treatment
units that handle the disposal of all
toilet waste from the accommodation areas.
General mechanical upgrades
included the provision of a new
heli-foam tank, service air receiver,
oily water separator and additional
lube and fuel oil purifiers. As part
of fleet wide access improvements,
Safe Caledonia is on a three-year contract for Total E&P at the Elgin/Dunbar field in the UK
North Sea.
10
Dave Smith, Yard project manager at
Ølensvåg yard in Norway.
maintenance walkways were
installed on the starboard crane
boom and jib ends.
The pontoon tanks and pump
rooms were also inspected and
ballast/sea water valves and pipe
work were replaced. Repairs to
the Impressed Cathodic Current
Protection (ICCP) anode system
were also carried out, including the
procurement and replacement of
the port and starboard pontoons’
power and control units.
In general, the work was carried
out in a proficient and safe manner
by both yard and onboard contractors with the yard management
providing good service to both
vessel and contractors alike. Some
failings at the onboard trade
supervision level were noted and
made known to the yard management for improvements to be
implemented.
An enthusiastic vessel and shore
based management team responded well to the challenges of the
yard stay work, the most significant
being the new, early departure
date – a contingency against bad
weather on field, potentially
delaying arrival and mooring
on contract at Elgin. This early
departure date was achieved, with
the vessel leaving the quay on the
Safe Caledonia on the day of her early
departure, showing forward box girder
painting
4th March allowing gangway
connection two days early on field,
despite the foreseen weather delays
en route.
Approved International
Shipping Enterprise Scheme
Prosafe has been awarded the Approved International Shipping Enterprise
Scheme (AIS) by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
By Jimmy Low,
Director of Finance
On 21 April 2009, the
gala dinner for the
International Maritime Awards 2009
took place. Prosafe Offshore’s
President Robin Laird went on stage
to receive the Approved International Shipping Enterprise Scheme
(AIS) award from Mrs Lim Hwee
Hua, Honourable Minister in the
Prime Minister’s Office and Second
Minister for Finance and Transport.
The scheme, which offers considerable tax incentives, is awarded by
the Maritime and Port Authority of
Singapore (MPA) to attract international ship-owning and ship-
operating companies to establish
their operations in Singapore.
Companies under this scheme are
exempted from tax on qualifying
income for ten years and the award
is renewable under certain terms
and conditions.
This award is very important to the
management of our group tax
expense. It capped months of hard
work by both the finance team and
our tax advisors in preparing and
demonstrating our business proposal
to the MPA in order to qualify for
the scheme. We also celebrated this
important occasion with some of our
business partners, who joined us at
the gala dinner together with all the
members of the director team based
in Singapore.
11
Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Honourable Minister in
the Prime Minister’s Office and Second
Minister for Finance and Transport presents
the AIS to Robin Laird, President of Prosafe
Offshore.
Giving children a home
and a future
Since 2004, Prosafe has supported the activities of SOS Children’s Villages.
This year’s donation will finance the building of a family house in Bataan,
the Philippines.
By Karine Cosemans,
Communication and branding
manager
Prosafe aims to be a responsible
member of the society and endeavours to contribute to the positive
development of the local communities in which it is represented.
We give each year a donation to a
social program in a country where
we have business activities.
Since 2004, Prosafe has supported
SOS Children’s Villages in different
countries. SOS Children’s Villages is
an international non-governmental
social development organisation
that has been active in the field of
children's rights and committed to
children's needs and concerns since
1949. They have activities in 132
countries, giving long-term care to
deprived children.
Building a house in Bataan
In May this year, Prosafe was
awarded a contract by Shell
Philippines Exploration B.V. for the
provision of the Safe Astoria accommodation rig at the Malampaya
Shallow Water Platform offshore
Palawan, the Philippines.
A study commissioned by UNICEF
in 2000 recorded an estimated
number of 45 000 - 50 000 “highly
visible children on the streets” in
22 major cities of the Philippines.
Therefore, we feel that it is natural
to contribute to alleviating the
situation for some of those in need
in the Philippines. Our donation to
SOS Children’s Villages has been
earmarked to finance the building
of a family house in the new SOS
Children’s Village in the town
Mariveles in Bataan, nearby Manila.
This is the country's eighth SOS
Children's Village, and the first SOS
Children’s Village in the north of
the country, where there is a huge
lack of alternative care services for
children. The cornerstone of SOS
Children's Village Bataan was laid
in February 2008 and construction
started in September 2008. The SOS
Children's Village will consist of
12 family houses for up to 120
children, the village director's
house, an administration and
service area and a community
building. The opening ceremony
for the first houses that were completed was held on 20 February
2009, and four families with
altogether 13 children have already
moved in.
“
SOS Children’s Villages is very grateful for the substantial
support Prosafe has given during so many years.
Prosafe’s support has given orphans and neglected
children in Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico and Liberia the
possibility to grow up in a safe home. This year, Prosafe
supports the building of a new SOS Children’s Village in
Bataan, the Philippines, thereby giving generations of
deprived children a new future. This is a fantastic gift
to the children in the Philippines.
Prosafe’s donation finances the building of a
family house in Bataan, the Philippines.
Nina Edholm, Manager Corporate Relations of SOS Children’s Villages Norway.
12
Giving children a home and a
future
–We have great respect for the
work that SOS Children’s Villages
does for so many children over
large parts of the world, says Arne
Austreid, President and CEO of
Prosafe. –By supporting SOS
Children’s Villages, we can give
children who have lost their parents
or who cannot be raised in their
biological family the opportunity to
grow up in a caring family and to
get an education. This is a powerful
way of helping to improve their
future, and will also have positive
ripple effects for the local
community, to which they can
contribute with their competence,
tells Arne Austreid.
Help to support children in need
We encourage our employees,
customers, suppliers and other
stakeholders to become an SOS
sponsor and give children in need
a home and a new family.
If you sponsor a child, you will
receive the child's photo and a
short profile, as well as information
on the particular SOS Children's
Village. Once a year you will receive
a progress report about your
sponsored child and at the end of
the year you will receive a report
telling you about life at the village
as well as a photo of your
Facts about SOS Children’s Villages
SOS Children’s Villages was founded
by Hermann Gmeiner in 1949 in
Austria in order to help orphans after
the Second World War. Today, it is an
international child welfare organisation providing long-term care for
orphans and children in need. The
organisation is politically neutral and
works independently of nationality,
culture and religion.
SOS Children’s Villages has more
than 2 000 projects in 132 countries.
More than 78 300 children and
young people are in care in 491
SOS Children’s Villages and 396
SOS Youth Facilities across the world,
Boys and girls of different ages grow up together as siblings in SOS families.
sponsored child together with a
season's greetings card.
Alternatively, you can sponsor an
SOS Children's Village. Through a
village sponsorship, you will be
provided with a photo and a short
description of “your” SOS Children's
Village, as well as detailed information on the country where the
village is situated. In addition, you
will be provided with a season's
greetings card at the end of the
year and a report twice a year
and about 183 300 children go to SOS
kindergartens, schools and training
centres. Approximately 1.2 million
children and their families receive
assistance through the work of SOS
Children’s Villages.
SOS Children’s Villages has a positive
influence on the local communities
where the organisation operates.
Children from the children’s villages
go to a municipal school where
possible. If there are no good
municipal schools nearby, SOS
Children’s Villages establishes
their own schools. SOS Children’s
Villages also builds and operates
kindergartens, training centres,
13
informing you of recent events at
the village, which also covers basic
up-dated information on your
village and all other facilities and
programmes at the same location.
Sponsorships may vary from country
to country. The individual sponsorships are handled directly by SOS
Children's Villages. Additional
information on SOS Children’s
Villages and about the sponsorship
programs can be found on
www.sos-childrensvillages.org
medical centres and social centres.
These are not only used by children
and youths from the SOS Children's
Village, but are open for the general
public.
SOS Children’s Villages in the
Philippines
The first SOS Children's Village in the
Philippines was built in Lipa in 1967.
At present, there are eight SOS
Children’s Villages in the Philippines,
seven SOS Youth Facilities, three SOS
Kindergartens, three SOS Hermann
Gmeiner Schools, various SOS Social
Centres and one SOS Vocational
Training Centre.
Safely moored
Of our fleet of 11 semi-submersible accommodation rigs, six units use dynamic
positioning in order to keep station alongside the offshore installation they are
supporting. The other six rigs are moored by means of anchors. What do we
expect from the mooring systems on our anchored accommodation rigs, and
how do we ensure that we get it?
By Jim Mearns, Marine manager
The first step in any design process
is to identify and define performance
standards. In other words, “What
it is that we want the finished
product to do?” It is then advisable,
at every step in the process, to
ensure that we remain focused on
this to avoid what in political terms
is called “mission drift”.
In general, the effectiveness of a
mooring system is measured by its
ability to hold the accommodation
rig in defined environmental
conditions without overloading any
of the mooring lines. In order to
achieve this goal, two conditions
must be considered. The first is the
operational condition, when the
accommodation rig is located
alongside an offshore installation
and is gangway connected. In this
condition, excursion or deviation
from the desired position must
be limited in order to maintain
gangway connection. The second
condition is the survival condition,
where the flotel is located at least
150 metres distant from the
offshore installation during severe
weather and there is more scope
for excursion. In both these
conditions, anchors should hold and
tensions in the mooring lines should
not exceed allowable limits.
From theory to practice
Semi-submersible installations are
provided with a mooring system
designed with certain environmental limitations. These limitations,
however, are based on a theoretical
mooring arrangement which
optimises the individual loadings
on each mooring line. Because the
accommodation rig must moor in
close proximity to an offshore
installation and in light of the
subsea architecture such as pipelines and shut down valves associated with those installations, this
theoretical mooring arrangement
is rarely achieved.
The practice is to carry out a
mooring analysis which provides
assurance that the mooring arrangement for the accommodation
rig is capable of achieving the
performance standards stated
earlier, i.e. to hold the accommodation rig in defined environmental
conditions without overloading any
of the mooring lines.
An anchor handling vessel assists during the
mooring process.
The analysis consists of a series of
calculations requiring data. Like all
analysis, the output is only as good
14
as the input. Certain data input is
unchanging unless major modifications are carried out to the accommodation rig. An example of this
is data based on the structure of
the accommodation rig and its
responses while floating. Once a
computer model is generated for a
particular unit, this model will be
valid for that accommodation rig or
any identical one. Another example
is the mooring equipment provided
with the unit.
Examples of variable data which
change from location to location
are water depth, soil and sea floor
conditions and metocean data such
as wind, wave and current.
Complying with offshore standards
Design criteria for mooring systems
are laid down in several codes
produced by bodies such as Det
Norske Veritas (DNV) and the
American Petroleum Institute. After
the relevant code is agreed upon, a
mooring analysis can be performed
to predict the extreme values of
action effects (either maximum or
minimum, as applicable) such as
horizontal and vertical clearances,
line tensions and anchor forces.
These values can then be checked
against the relevant code.
Mooring analysis is carried out for
the intact, redundancy check and
transient conditions. The intact
condition is the condition where all
mooring lines are intact. The redundancy check condition is where the
unit has a new mean position after
a single mooring line failure. The
transient condition is the condition
where the unit undergoes transient
motions between the intact and
redundancy check conditions.
The codes used as the basis of
design criteria for mooring systems
apply safety factors which must be
met in order to comply with the
code. These safety factors are riskbased and are more stringent for
floating units in close proximity to
other installations than for units in
remote locations.
Typical data outputs from a
mooring analysis are maximum
anticipated line tensions both in the
intact and redundancy check conditions and the make-up and layout
of the moorings components themselves. With this information the
plans and procedures for deploying
the moorings can be formulated.
Safe Scandinavia moving into position.
Benefits of pre-laid moorings
The recent mooring arrangement
for the Safe Scandinavia at Valhall
involved over 700 individual items
of equipment. This equipment had
to be in the right place at the right
time in order to ensure a smooth
and seamless operation.
Part of the moorings at Valhall was
pre-laid and Prosafe is a champion
of the concept of pre-laying
moorings and recommends this
approach to most of our clients.
The pre-laying of anchors means
that we can test-tension the
anchors to a level that is not
possible using the accommodation
rig’s mooring winches. In this way
the anchors can be test-tensioned
to the maximum anticipated intact
mooring tension which is most reassuring to the OIM and crew of
the flotel when the first storm of
winter is imminent.
Advantage can also be taken of any
period of reduced anchor handling
vessel rates to carry out the pre-lay
as the timing is not as critical as
when mobilising the accommodation
Under control - the Safe Scandinavia bridge overview.
unit itself. Rates for these vessels have
fluctuated over the past few years
from £15,000 – £140,000 per day.
In addition, the time taken to moor
up the flotel is less, resulting in a
much reduced risk of collision with
the offshore installation due to the
reduction in exposure time
(typically at least 80-85 per cent).
Committed to safety
Mooring operations for the floating
15
accommodation sector of the
offshore industry can be complex
and require a combination of good
people, good equipment and good
procedures to be successful. At
Prosafe we pride ourselves on
having all three of these elements
and in applying knowledge gained
as the market leader in the provision of floating accommodation rigs
to further improve our performance
for our clients.
Acknowledgement of
Compliance to MSV Regalia
On 10 July 2009, MSV Regalia was granted the Acknowledgement of Compliance
(AoC) from the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authorities (PSA) allowing the vessel
to operate in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
By Klaus Tveita, Country Manager
Norway
With Safe Scandinavia already
granted the AoC in April 2007, this
solidifies Prosafe’s position on the
Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).
Prosafe now owns and operates
two of the four accommodation
vessels with valid AoC certificates
in the North Sea.
In order to achieve an AoC a great
deal of time and effort is required
by all members of the organisation.
In our case this required
consultation and cooperation
between MSV Regalia’s marine
crew and onshore colleagues from
our offices in Aberdeen, Norway
and Singapore. The gaining of the
AoC is truly an achievement and
one that all that contributed can
be proud of.
Confirmation of compliance
The AoC certificate is a confirmation to both Prosafe and our
customers that MSV Regalia is
suitable for activities on the NCS
through given compliance against
relevant regulations for health,
Facts of the AoC: According to PSA’s
‘”Framework HSE Regulations” any
activity closer than 500 meters from
any offshore installation is considered
petroleum activity and requires an
approval from PSA. MSV Regalia has
previously been operating in the
North Sea, however, this does not
automatically qualify the vessel for the
environment, safety and emergency
preparedness. The certificate
further forms the basis for the
application from our customers
to PSA for consent to use the
vessel for petroleum activity in
the relevant fields.
During an AoC certificate process,
the complete vessel is reviewed by
both Prosafe internal resources and
external parties. In addition to the
PSA, other governmental bodies
participate, such as the Norwegian
Maritime Directorate, The Civil
Aviation Authority, The Norwegian
Board of Health Supervision and
the Norwegian Institute of Public
Health. Each focus on their separate
sections of the vessel design and
operation. In parallel, Prosafe
personnel from several departments
are involved in mapping activities
against all relevant regulations and
requirements.
Long path towards the AoC
In Prosafe, the preparations for the
AoC application had already started
in the end of 2008. A comprehensive description of the vessel design
and relevant operational proceAoC certificate. Since the introduction
of the AoC program in August 2000
(voluntary until January 2004) a
number of mobile offshore units have
been granted the certificate. The
intention of the AoC is (quote PSA)
“….An AoC is an acknowledgement
from the Petroleum Safety Authority
Norway to the effect that a mobile
16
dures were prepared for presentation to the PSA. Ian Young,
Director of HSEQA, and his team in
the HSEQA department laid down a
substantial amount of work in the
development of this documentation. The 1000+ pages were
presented to the PSA in the form of
a “Safety Case” widely used in the
United Kingdom for approval of
installations. Deadline of this was
mid-March, giving PSA the required
three months for the approval
process.
During the approval process, several
meetings were held in the PSA
offices in Stavanger, Norway.
Additionally, audits were carried
out on the MSV Regalia at the
Keppel Verolme yard in Rotterdam,
the Netherlands. Some of the audits
were carried out while work was
still ongoing in various parts of
the vessel. This resulted in some
challenges when trying to show the
finalised product in the middle of
a busy building site. However, the
personnel from PSA are used to
seeing through scaffolding,
tarpaulin and protective covers
during such inspections. Both
facility's technical condition and the
applicant's organisation and
management system are assessed to
be in conformity with relevant
requirements of Norwegian shelf
rules.” With the certificate in hand,
the vessel is qualified for operation on
the NCS, and further verification and
approval is unnecessary.
Klaus Tveita, Prosafe’s Country Manager Norway (left) and Jan Erik Jensen from PSA with the
final signed AoC for MSV Regalia. Jan Erik Jensen is Prosafe’s main contact person at the PSA
and he played a significant role in the AoC application process .
The AoC certification confirms that Prosafe
meets the high standards expected in the
North Sea.
project and marine personnel
contributed to the success and
satisfaction of the PSA during these
inspections.
Sea. Prosafe endeavours to offer its
customers high quality accommodation facilities and to deliver safe
and efficient services offshore.
Known deviations had already been
presented in the above mentioned
“Safety Case”, however, through
further internal verification and as
a consequence of PSA inspections,
additional deviations were
identified. Most of the new findings
were items that could be easily
corrected and improved. This
resulted in direct improvement of
the facility to the best of guests
onboard and the permanent marine
crew from Prosafe. In such view, we
should appreciate the possibility for
improvements the AoC process
allows for. Some deviations took
longer to improve, hence, these
were accepted as temporary
deviations at start of operation.
Only twelve deviations related to
the original design of the MSV
Regalia in 1985 remained as
accepted long-term deviations.
One can with confidence say that
the vessel now complies with
relevant regulations on the
Norwegian Continental Shelf
with the exception of the above
mentioned deviations.
A continuous process
The final AoC certificate was presented when all sea-trials and commissioning were completed. At the time,
the MSV Regalia was situated just
outside of the 500m zone at the
Valhall field. The AoC received a
warm welcome with our customer
BP Norge as is would form the basis
of their Application for Consent to
PSA to utilise the vessel for ongoing
modification work at Valhall. BP
Norge was granted consent to use
MSV Regalia at Valhall on 15 July.
The AoC is granted for five years at
a time and is subject to renewal in
2014. During this period, Prosafe
has to maintain the high
operational quality and safety
onboard the vessel. The PSA and
other bodies will during this period
visit the vessel several times for
audits and verifications. Prosafe is
committed to follow up findings
and carry out our own verifications.
This shall result in continuous
improvements made to both
onshore and offshore vessel design,
organisation and administration.
We are proud of having been
granted the AoC certificate, which
confirms that we meet the high
standards expected in the North
17
Everyone’s contribution to safe
operation
Through everyone’s daily work in
Prosafe, we all contribute to the
safety of our guests and marine
crew onboard our vessels in
operation. The AoC certificate
might seem remote and oblivious,
however, we all contribute to compliance towards relevant requirements, regulation and legislation.
The form of the legislation is such
that expectations towards all
aspects of our operation, offshore
and onshore, are described.
Early planning in projects and
operations
For this AoC application process
the early foundations were already
laid down during the initial planning and engineering phase of the
MSV Regalia refurbishing project.
By including references to necessary standards and planning for
relevant modification work necessary for operation on NCS, the team
made the AoC approval possible.
Piggy-back voyage to Mexico
In January, Prosafe was awarded a one-year bareboat contract for use of the
Safe Bristolia at the Cantarell field for Pemex in Mexico. Safe Bristolia was
moved from Burntisland in Scotland to the Gulf of Mexico on a heavy-lift vessel.
By David van
Aesch, Master/OIM
Safe Bristolia
On 21 January,
Safe Bristolia was
pulled over on the
heavy-lift vessel
Eagle. The operation itself took
only half an hour, but was preceded
by thorough planning and preparations. Welded guide posts on the
deck assured that the rig was
placed in the absolutely correct
position. In order to avoid side axial
and lateral movements, the Safe
Bristolia was braced to the deck of
the heavy-lift vessel.
On 24 January at 15:00 hours, the
Eagle lifted her anchor and started
her voyage to Mexico with 106
persons on board the Safe Bristolia.
Shortly after departure, we had to
shelter three days in Falmouth Bay
due to bad weather in the Bay of
Biscay. During our two-day voyage
from Falmouth to Punta Sainas in
the North of Spain, we once again
experienced bad weather. This
caused the Eagle to roll quite
aggressively and delayed the work
we were able to do on the rig, as
we had to shelter for a further six
days.
Our third stop was in Lisbon,
Portugal on 8 February. A total of
23 persons, mainly sub-contracted
electricians who had completed
their work, left the rig. The fourth
stop was in Puerto Rico, in the
south of Gran Canaria. Crew change
was done by helicopters and food
stores were brought out by a World
War II landing craft. Due to the
Gangway-connected to Nohoch-A in the
Cantarell field in Mexico.
landing craft’s flat bottom, it was
not possible to keep the boat
steady under our crane hook, and
after eight hours of trying to get
the stores onboard, we had to give
up. We continued our voyage to
Mexico the next day without fresh
stores. At this point in time, we
had a week to reach the Bay of
Campeche in Mexico.
The last part of the voyage went
smoothly, and the Safe Bristolia
gangway connected at the east side
of Nohoch-A in the Cantarell field
on 13 March 2009.
We utilised the time available
during the move to install a new
crew gangway and do some
adaptations to suit customer
requirements, in addition to a lot of
general maintenance and upgrade
work. Thereby, we ensured that the
rig was in excellent condition when
starting operations in Mexico, and
that our customers are offered first
class service.
Safe Bristolia on the back of the heavy-lift vessel Eagle.
18
Meeting business
contacts at OTC
Prosafe participated to the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which took
place from 4 - 7 May in Houston, USA.
By Karine Cosemans,
Communication and branding
manager
What began in 1969 as a local oil
and gas conference has grown into
what is without doubt the largest
event of its kind in the world. The
OTC 2009 exhibition had more
than 52,000 square metres of
exhibition area filled to capacity by
2,500 companies from 38 countries.
Prosafe’s stand was located in the
Reliant Stadium, which normally is
the home of the National Football
League's Houston Texans, the
Houston Livestock Show and
Rodeo and the Texas Bowl, and
can seat 71,500 persons.
Despite of global economic recession and initial concerns about
swine flu, a total of 67,721 energy
professionals from more than 120
countries participated. Not all of
them found the way to Prosafe’s
stand, but our stand was one of
the most popular ones in the
Reliant Stadium and was very well
visited.
Prosafe representatives enjoyed
the opportunity to catch up with
earlier and current customers,
vendors and other business
contacts. In addition, they
presented the flotel concept to
those who did not know it from
before, and established contacts
that might proof useful in the
future.
Robin Laird, President Prosafe Offshore (right) and Charles Day, Director of Business
Development (middle) catching up with Steve Adams from Infield (left).
19
Prosafe’s stand at the OTC.
Prosafe SE
Stadiou Street 126
CY-6020 Larnaca
Cyprus
In order to honour those employees who in an excellent way are ambassadors
for one or several of our core values, we annually award the Ambassador
Prize. The award can be given to a single person, a group of employees, a
department, a project team or a rig crew.
Who has in an outstanding way
promoted one or several of
Prosafe’s core values?
We encourage you to submit your
nomination in order to help us
electing who should be awarded
this year’s Ambassador Prize.
Please send your nomination,
inclusive a brief explanation
of why that person, group of
employees, department, project
team or rig crew should be
awarded the prize, to:
Last year’s Ambassador Prize was given to the Safe Scandinavia crew. President and CEO Arne
Austreid (middle) presented the Ambassador Prize to Safe Scandinavia Captains Andy Brown
(left) and Bill McFadzean (right).
Prosafe AS
Att.: Karine Cosemans
e-mail:
[email protected]
fax no.: +47 51 64 25 01
by 8 October 2009
By Karine Cosemans, communication
and branding manager
Our core values – the environment,
focus, ambition, safety, innovation,
respect and profitability – constitute
the company’s foundation. All
employees must know, understand
and act in accordance with these
core values, and let them guide
their decisions and actions.
Prosafe’s Ambassador Prize was
established in 2002 in order to
acknowledge the efforts of
employees who through the
previous year in an excellent way
had promoted one or several of
our core values. It is the ultimate
award to those who have
distinguished themselves by
being true ambassadors for
Prosafe’s core values.
The person who submits the
winning proposal will receive a gift
voucher or a token of appreciation.
All proposals will be evaluated by
a jury consisting of the corporate
management. The name of the
winner(s) will be made public in
the next edition of Prosafe NOW.
© istockphoto
Who should receive Prosafe’s
Ambassador Prize for 2009?